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Frequently asked questions

iPhone

FAQs regarding the "Doodle for iPhone" application can be found here.

MyDoodle / Doodle account

Poll creation and administration

not categorized yet

How can Branded Doodle/Premium Doodle be paid for?

Basically, the payment channels are provided by Moneybookers and PayPal. With PayPal, credit cards can also be used without PayPal account.

In Germany, the following payment channels are available: Show me the money in Germany

In France, the following payment channels are available: Show me the money in France

In the US, in Switzerland, and in all other countries, the following payment channels are available: Show me the money in the rest of the world

I no longer have the admin link of my poll; can you send it to me again?

Lost & Found: admin links

Why don't I receive any e-mails from Doodle?

There are two likely reasons why you don't receive Doodle mails: 1) You made a typo when you entered your mail address (we try to detect this but it is not always possible), 2) a spamfilter in your mail application or at your internet provider is not properly configured and wrongly flags Doodle mails as spam.

If 1 is the case, you can simply retry with the correct mail address. If 2 is the case, you can check your mail filter and see if the Doodle mails are there. Then, you can reconfigure your spamfilter to not catch Doodle mails in the future. If nothing else helps, you can still try a different e-mail address or use Doodle with no mail address at all - Doodle even works without an email address.

In any case, please wait a few hours before you take any action. E-mail can be a very unreliable communication means. It is (seldom but) possible that an e-mail takes many minutes or even hours to be delivered.

Unfortunately, we cannot resend Doodle mails or Doodle links to you manually. This violates our policy which states that this information is to be treated as confidential and private.

I signed up for a MyDoodle account but couldn’t activate it or log in

After a successful registration, Doodle sends you an activation e-mail. The e-mail contains an activation URL which you need to click on. As soon as your account is activated, you will be able to login using your e-mail address and password. If you haven’t received an activation e-mail, please consult our FAQ "Why don't I receive any e-mails from Doodle?".

Why does the error message "This account does not exist." appear?

Doodle accounts are optional, and you seem to have used Doodle without an account up to now (you may have received Doodle e-mails as a poll creator or participant) and are welcome to keep doing so.

To administer a poll, follow the poll's admin link.

To open an account, follow this link.

The poll table appears misaligned (or does not use the entire screen width)

Certain browsers are not capable of correctly rendering the poll table. A second view on the table — that is rendered correctly by older and alternative browsers as well — is reached by clicking on the following icon in the upper left corner of the poll table:

My session expired

The Doodle Wizard currently depends on a temporary session. After 30 minutes of inactivity the session will time out. It’s recommended to complete the creation of a poll in one go. If you have to interrupt the creation, it’s recommended to press the “Back” and “Next” buttons every few minutes in order to reset the session timeout.

An unknown person participated in my poll or did mischief

In order to be as flexible as possible, Doodle allows participants to choose any name during participation. One of your participants may have entered an untruthful name. Or maybe one of your participants inadvertently forwarded the link to another person, or published the URL on a public website.

I want to edit an entry but a small lock appears saying „protected by MyDoodle”

The corresponding participant participated in the poll while being logged in to MyDoodle. Doodle can therefore recognize the participant and protect his information. Only the MyDoodle user and the poll administrator are authorized to edit or delete such an entry. Would you like to get your own MyDoodle account? You can register here.

Why can I neither edit nor delete the entries of all participants as the administrator?

Doodle only allows you to do so when you are recognized as the administrator. To this end, first follow the admin link of your poll, then the "Access poll with administrator rights" link and finally as usual the "Edit an entry" or "Delete an entry" link.

Why is my time zone not pre-selected when I create or participate in a poll with time-zone support?

Doodle determines your time zone by looking up your so-called IP address in a time-zones database. On one hand, it is possible that this database is not up to date (but we update it on a regular basis). On the other hand, it is possible that your IP address is assigned to you by your employer or an Internet service provider with several locations, only one of which can be looked up in the database.

I modified my poll and it shows now question marks all over the table

You added new and/or modified existing poll options after some participants already entered their vote. Doodle wouldn’t know what your existing participants would have selected. Therefore it indicates the missing information with question marks. You need to contact your participants and ask them to update their entries. If you'd like to update the votes for your participants yourself, go to "Administer", "View history" to see what your participants voted. Then update each vote in the table accordingly. Alternatively, if you revert the poll changes the question marks will disappear and the votes reappear.

What’s the difference between „Schedule event“ and „Make choice“?

„Schedule an event“ is first and foremost about finding a date and/or time. Doodle supports this by recognizing times and time spans when creating a poll and by calendar import/export features, time zones, etc. when participating in one.

„Make a choice“ does not limit you to dates and times but allows you to have polls on anything and everything. e.g. movies, menus, travel destination, etc.

How do I poll for a date range?

Click on "Make choice" instead of "Schedule event" on Doodle's home page. On the 2nd wizard page enter textual descriptions of the date ranges you want to poll for.

How can I schedule an event with people in different time zones?

In the poll wizard Step 3 of 3 you will find a link to enable time zone support. Doodle will automatically select the time zone corresponding to a participant's location (IP-Address) but allows to manually change it afterwards. Time zone support is mostly used when organizing conference calls. Once a poll is running, time zone cannot be enabled/disabled anymore.

How do I create a Yes-No-Ifneedbe poll?

When creating the poll, click the "Options" button (instead of the "Finish" button) in what seems to be the last step.
Note that once a poll has been created, the ifneedbe option cannot be activated or deactivated anymore.

How can I invite the participants to my poll?

After having created a poll, Doodle sends or shows you two links. You invite participants by sharing the participation link with them, by e-mail for instance. You can send invitation e-mails out with your regular e-mail program (and the address book you already have) or directly from within Doodle by following the „send invitation“ link.

How many participants can max. participate in a poll?

There is no limit to the maximum number of participants in a poll. With a growing number of participants the poll page will slow down loading. 1000 - 2000 participants will work without any problems.

The number of participants per poll option can be limited with a setting in the poll wizard (Options-Button Wizard Step 3 of 3). This feature is mostly used for Resource-Planning (Exhibition staffing, work distribution, ...).

How can I edit or delete my answer?

On the poll page, simply follow the "Edit an entry" or "Delete an entry" function below the poll table.

Why can I change / delete the poll entries of others?

You can change entries because Doodle doesn’t authenticate the user – in order to keep the service as simple as possible. When someone enters „Heather“ as the user name, Doodle doesn’t know whether it’s Heather herself at the next visit. Therefore users can change the entries of other users. Doodle relies generally on cooperative behaviour of all users. Normally that’s the case in reality. If you want to prevent changes of participants you can choose a „hidden poll“. Another way to protect your vote is to participate while being logged into your MyDoodle-Account. Also read I want to edit an entry but a small lock appears saying „protected by MyDoodle”

How can I subscribe/unsubscribe to e-mail notifications for a poll?

If you provide an e-mail address when creating your poll (or when editing it), notifications will be sent to that address. If you don’t provide an e-mail address (or remove it when modifying the poll), no notifications will be sent.

How can I add a comment to my poll?

On the poll page, follow the „Add a comment“ link, enter your name and your comment, and then click the „Save“ button.

How can I view the results of a hidden poll?

Only the administrator can view a hidden poll. Open the poll using the Admin-Link and click on “Show hidden poll”. If you are a MyDoodle user and are currently logged in, your hidden polls will automatically be shown unhidden to you.

A hidden poll can be opened up to the participants. Open a poll using the admin link. Click on “Edit this poll” and walk through the wizard until the end. Click on the “Options” button and from there uncheck the hidden option.

Why aren’t my entries and comments not hidden in an otherwise hidden poll?

Your votes/comments are only visible to you and the Administrator of the poll. Non-MyDoodle users lose access to their votes/comments after the session ends (e.g. closing the browser). MyDoodle users always have access to their votes/comments.

How can I close a poll and pick a final date?

Open your poll using the admin link and click “Close poll”. Choose a final date (optional) and inform your participants about your choice. A closed poll can be reopened at any time.

How do I print a poll?

Below the poll table, you find a blue box called „Functions“. Click “Print” to open the “Export / Print” page. A click on “Print View” opens your poll as a PDF-Document, ready for printing. In order to read PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader ( http://get.adobe.com/reader ).

How do I export a poll?

Below the poll table, you find a blue box called „Functions“. Click “Export” to open the “Export / Print” page. From there either choose “Export poll to Excel” or “Export poll to PDF”. In order to read PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader ( http://get.adobe.com/reader ).

How do I select all checkboxes?

On the poll page press Ctrl + A.

When is a MyDoodle account required?

A MyDoodle account is not a requirement to use Doodle. MyDoodle offers a number of advantages for regular Doodle users: MyDoodle saves your participation and admin links in your personal dashboard. Wherever possible, MyDoodle pre-fills your name and e-mail address. Using your personal MyDoodle ICS Feed, you can subscribe to your scheduling information in Doodle from your calendar. Last but not least, MyDoodle users can invite or contact participants directly from Doodle.

To create your own free MyDoodle account, follow this link.

Is it possible to use an existing poll as a template?

No. A Doodle poll is created in no time. That’s why we decided to not support this feature.

How can I delete a poll?

When you created the poll, Doodle sent you a so-called admin link. It can be used to modify or delete the poll. You can also just ignore a poll you no longer need, Doodle deletes outdated polls from time to time. Please refer to the Policy for additional information.

How long does Doodle keep a poll? Will my poll be available until x?

Please refer to the Policy.

What is Branded Doodle?

Branded Doodle ist a customizable Doodle for your organization. Learn more

How do I order Branded Doodle by invoice?

At the end of the order process choose "Bank" as the payment means. You will then be shown the information on where to wire the money. The payment confirmation/invoice will be sent to you by e-mail.

What is Premium Doodle?

Premium Doodle is a more powerful Doodle for individuals. It supports a personal design, an avatar, means to request additional information (e.g., e-mail address) from poll participants, and is ads-free. Learn more

How can I ask the participants to provide Postal address, E-mail address oder Cell-phone number and view it later on?

This function is only available to Premium Doodle or Branded Doodle users.

When creating a new poll click on the Options button at the end of the wizard. From there select any of the extra fields you wish your participants to provide.

The poll must be exported to Excel to view the collected user data. Visit your poll page and click Excel Export from the yellow information box on top of the poll table or File export from the Functions box below the poll table.

How can I use Doodle together with my calendar (Outlook, Google Calendar, iCal, Notes etc.)?

A calendar integration overview can be found here.

How do I access Doodle from my mobile phone?

If you open a Doodle poll from your mobile phone, Doodle will detect your device and offer to switch to Mobile Doodle. You can directly open the Mobile Doodle version by entering http://m.doodle.com.

How can I use Doodle from Facebook?

Open the following link in your browser: http://apps.facebook.com/doodlepolls

How can I use Doodle with iGoogle?

Open the following link in your browser: http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.doodle.com/opensocial/gadget.xml

What programming interfaces (API) is Doodle offering and how can I use them?

Doodle offers both a simple interface (The Wizard of Doodle) for the creation of polls and a powerful interface (RESTful Doodle) for the creation of polls, the participation in them, etc. The interfaces are documented here.

Do you have a Doodle for coporations, clubs, and other organisations?

Yes. The product is called Branded Doodle. Learn more.

Is it possible to embed Doodle in my website?

On the participation page of your poll you find a link in the functions box called “Embed poll”. On this site you find a HTML snippet for the poll summary which you can embed into your site or blog. Doodle as an application cannot be embedded. For that purpose we recommend Branded Doodle.

What is Doodle?

Doodle helps finding suitable dates and times for group events, e.g., an appointment, a conference call, a family reunion, etc. Doodle is particularly easy to use – and passes the „grandma-test“.

In addition to scheduling events, Doodle also supports polls in general. That is, groups can conveniently decide on options other than dates.

What can Doodle be used for?

Doodle is extremely flexible. Typically, Doodle is used for scheduling events.

However, you can use Doodle differently as well : as a reservation tool for a shared holiday home, for the exercise planning of your sports club, for instance, or to find out who travels to the company excursion by train and who by car as well as who has space left in the car. With Doodle you can also vote quickly and easily on the movie for the next DVD-night, the logo for the new web presence or the restaurant for the Christmas dinner.

Who develops and operates Doodle?

The Swiss-based company Doodle AG runs Doodle. Numerous volunteers contribute to Doodle.

How much does Doodle cost?

Nothing, Doodle is a free service.

But you can support Doodle by using it as your advertising platform or by renting Branded Doodle for your organisation. Please contact us to learn more.

Why is Doodle called "Doodle"?

For starters, "Doodle" is a short word that is easy to remember. Furthermore, "Doodle" sounds fun - and that's what Doodle is supposed to be! Finally, "Doodle" is an English term and means "casual scribble", "casual design", or "casual sketch". While Doodle is not a drawing service, it indeed makes scheduling events so simple as to make this an almost casual task.

How does Doodle earn money?

We sell ads space and offer a premium product called Branded Doodle to corporations and other organizations.

How can a MyDoodle account be deleted?

Go to https://doodle.com/mydoodle/account.html and then follow the "Delete account" link.

How can poll details be hidden from the participants?

When you create or edit a poll, in what seems to be the last step, click on "Options" instead of "Finish" and then select "Hidden poll".